System for placement of content on electronic billboard displays

ABSTRACT

Commercial advertisers, such as consumer product companies and the advertising agents that represent them, directly access a network of thousands of large, high resolution electronic displays located in high traffic areas and directly send their own advertisements electronically to the network to be displayed at locations and times selected by the advertisers.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to systems permitting advertisers to targetgeographical regions and demographic groups with ever changing, currentadvertising content without incurring the high fixed cost of traditionalsingle-message billboards. More particularly, the invention relates to asystem and method permitting commercial advertisers, such as consumerproduct companies and the advertising agents that represent them, todirectly access a network of thousands of large, high resolutionelectronic displays located in high traffic areas and to directly sendtheir own advertisements electronically to the network to be displayedat locations and times selected by the advertiser.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Consumer product advertising takes many forms, such as televisioncommercials, newspaper and magazine advertisements, mailings,point-of-sale displays, outdoor billboards, etc. Using currentadvertising media, advertisers engage in a constant struggle toefficiently use their budgets to most effectively reach their geographicand demographic targets.

Focusing on the outdoor advertising component of advertising by consumerproduct companies, it is well known that outdoor billboards havetraditionally taken the form of single-message displays formed ofprinted sheets or painted surfaces containing the advertising contentadhered to a flat backing. This time-honored outdoor advertisingtechnique has remained essentially unchanged throughout the twentiethcentury. The high cost of printing, transporting and mounting a messageon a conventional billboard has dictated that the same message remain inplace for a considerable period of time. Thus, a conventional billboardcannot be readily changed to reflect current events within thegeographic area of the billboard. Additionally, the content on aconventional billboard tends to become essentially “invisible” as a partof the landscape after its content has been in place for a relativelyshort period of time, especially to commuters and others who regularlypass the billboard. Beyond the above problems with cost, single-messagecontent, lack of content changeover capability, and the like,conventional outdoor billboards have come under increasing criticismbecause in their large numbers, and often tattered condition, theyclutter highways with a distasteful form of visual “pollution”. Areduction in the number of billboards and improvement of the appearanceof those that remain, if accomplished while increasing the overalladvertising impact afforded by outdoor advertising, would pleasevirtually everyone.

The use of electronic billboards has been suggested, for example, inU.S. Pat. No. 5,612,741. However, there is no electronic billboardnetwork in operation whereby commercial advertisers may directly placeads onto selected billboards at selected times through direct access toa master network. Such a network, properly designed and operated,promises to overcome the numerous disadvantages currently associatedwith the outdoor advertising industry, while also meeting theabove-enumerated needs of consumer products advertisers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, commercial advertisers, such asconsumer product companies and the advertising agents that representthem, directly access a network of multiple large, high resolutionelectronic displays located in high traffic areas and directly sendtheir own advertisements electronically to the network to be displayedat locations and times selected by the advertisers. In preferredembodiments, the system of the invention includes a central informationprocessing center that permits customers to review a schedule of timesand electronic display locations that are available for placement ofadvertisements, and also permits customers to purchase available timesat selected electronic display locations for placement of theiradvertising content. The customer then transmits his video or stillimage advertising content to the processing center where the content isreviewed for appropriateness and then transmitted to thecustomer-selected electronic display(s). The electronic displayspreferably are large (e.g., 23×33½ ft.) flat LED displays that aredriven by their own video or image servers. Verification that theadvertisements run as ordered is facilitated by an information storagemodule or, more preferably, by a digital camera or series of digitalcameras. A traffic counter may be used to determine the traffic thatpassed by the display while the advertisement was running. Bills andreports containing market and demographic analysis are generated andsent to the customer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some of the features of the invention having been stated, other featureswill appear as the description proceeds, when taken in connection withthe accompanying drawings, in which

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the principal components of anelectronic display network constructed in accordance with the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a view of one of the electronic displays of the network ofFIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

While the present invention will be described more fully hereinafterwith reference to the accompanying drawings, in which aspects of thepreferred manner of practicing the present invention are shown, it is tobe understood at the outset of the description which follows thatpersons of skill in the appropriate arts may modify the invention hereindescribed while still achieving the favorable results of this invention.Accordingly, the description which follows is to be understood as beinga broad, teaching disclosure directed to persons of skill in theappropriate arts, and not as limiting upon the present invention.

Referring to the drawings, and particularly to FIG. 1, there is shown ablock diagram of a system 20 for direct placement of commercialadvertisements, public service announcements and other content onelectronic displays. System 20 includes a network comprising a pluralityof electronic displays 30 that are located in high traffic areas invarious geographic locations. The displays may be located in areas ofhigh vehicular traffic, and also at indoor and outdoor locations of highpedestrian traffic, as well as in movie theaters, restaurants, sportsarenas, casinos or other suitable locations. Thousands of displays, upto 10,000 or more displays worldwide, may be networked according to thepresent invention. In preferred embodiments, each display is a large(for example, 23 feet by 33½ feet), high resolution, full color displaythat provides brilliant light emission from a flat panel screen.

A customer of system 20, for example an in-house or agencyrepresentative of a consumer products company, may access a centralinformation processing station of the system via the Internet through aCustomer Interface Web Server 40. The customer interface web server hasa commerce engine and permits the customer to obtain and enter securitycode and billing code information into a Network Security Router/Accessmodule 50. Alternatively, high usage customers of the system may utilizea high speed dedicated connection to module 50. Following access, thecustomer reviews available advertising time/locations through a ReviewSchedule and Purchase Time module 60 that permits the customer to seewhat time is available on any display throughout the world andthereafter schedule and purchase the desired advertising time slot.Next, the customer transmits the advertising content on-line through theInternet, a direct phone line or a high speed connection (for example,ISDN or DSL) for receipt by the system's Video & Still Image Review andInput module 70. In parallel, the system operator may provide publicservice announcements and other content to module 70. All content,whether still image or video, is formatted in NTSC, PAL, SECAM, YUV, YC,VGA or other suitable formats.

The video & still image review and input module 70 permits a systemsecurity employee to conduct a content review to assure that all contentmeets the security and appropriateness standards established by thesystem, prior to the content being read to the server 100 associatedwith each display 30 where the content being transmitted to the server100 will be displayed. Preferably, the servers are located at theirrespective displays and each has a backup. An example of a suitableserver is the IBM RISC 6000 server.

The means for transmitting content information to the display locationsmay take a number of forms, with it being understood that any form, orcombination thereof, may be utilized at various locations within thenetwork. As shown in FIG. 1, the means include:

-   -   a. High speed cable    -   b. Satellite    -   c. Dedicated phone    -   d. High speed line (e.g., ISDN)    -   e. Cellular or PCS    -   f. Internet    -   g. Radio/radio pulse transmission    -   h. High speed optical fiber.        A video converter/scaler function and a video controller        function provided by module 110 may be utilized in connection        with those servers 100 and associated displays 30 that require        them, according to data transmission practices well known in the        art.

Verification that advertisements do, in fact, run at the intended timeat the intended displays may be provided by an information storagemodule (not shown) linked to each display. Another form of verificationmay be achieved by a Digital Camera and Traffic Count Recorder 120 thatcontinuously records the content appearing at its respective display 30and digitally transmits video verification information to a VerificationArchives module 150. Recorder 120 also provides traffic countinformation (for example, 225 vehicles passed the display while anadvertisement ran) to verification archives module 150.

Information from verification archives module 150 is utilized by ademographic analysis module 160 and a market analysis module 170 togenerate information for reports to be sent to customers after theiradvertisements run. To this end, analysis data from modules 160 and 170is transmitted to a Billing and Report Generation module 190 wherereports are assembled showing, for example, the time of theadvertisement, the content of the advertisement, the traffic count andresidence/median income information about those who saw theadvertisement. A representative, simplified report for an advertisementrunning on a single display is as follows: Customer: ABC Cola Co. AdContent: Ocean Scene with graphics (content code 1111) Location:Atlanta, Georgia, Interstate 75N, milepost 125 (site code XXXX) Time:7:30 AM, June 30, 2000 Vehicle Count: 225 Viewer Count: 340 ViewerDemographics: • 50% Resident Cobb County, GA Median household income:$60,000/yr. • 30% Resident DeKalb County, GA Median household income:$52,000/yr. • 20% Median household income $55,000/yr. Advertising Cost:$X

For an advertisement that may have run at multiple displays, for example100 displays, a representative report may appear as follows: Customer:ABC Cola Co. Ad Content: Mountain Scene with graphics (content code2222) Locations: 100 sites (site codes YYY . . . ZZZ> Time: 8:30 AM,July 10, 2000 Total Vehicle Count: 21,500 Total Viewer Count: 37,200Viewer Demographics: Median household income, $49,500 Advertising Cost:$Y

Module 190 also produces bills that may be transmitted by phone linesfor a debit payment such as a direct bank draft, or other suitablepayment mode.

Referring to FIG. 2, there is shown a pictorial view of one preferredform for the electronic displays 30. In this embodiment, display 30takes the form of a 23 feet by 33½ feet seamless flat screen displayincluding multiple flat panel display modules. The panels utilizeadvanced semiconductor technology to provide high resolution, full colorimages utilizing light emitting diodes (LED's) with very high opticalpower (1.5-10 milliwatts or greater) that are aligned in an integratedarray with each pixel having a red, green and blue LED. It will beappreciated that multiple LED's of a given color may be used at pixelsto produce the desired light output; for example, three 1.5 milliwattblue LED's may be used to produce a 4.5 milliwatt blue light output.Each red, green and blue emitter is accessed with 24 bit resolution,providing 16.7 million colors for every pixel. An overall display of 23feet by 33½ feet, so constructed, has a high spatial resolution definedby approximately 172,000 pixels at an optical power that is easilyviewable in bright sunlight. Suitable display modules for displays 30are manufactured by Lighthouse Technologies of Hong Kong, China, underModel No. LV50 that utilize, for blue and green, InGaN LED's fabricatedon single crystalline Al₂O₃ (sapphire) substrates and, for red,superbright AlInGaP LED's fabricated on a suitable substrate such asGaP. These panels have a useful life in excess of 50,000 hours, forexample, an expected life under the usage contemplated for network 20 of150,000 to 200,000 hours and more. In preferred embodiments, the panelsare cooled from the back of the displays, preferably via arefrigerant-based air conditioning system (not shown) such as a forcedair system or a thermal convection or conduction system. Nonrefrigerant-based options may be used in locations where they producesatisfactory cooling. The displays preferably have a very wide viewingangle, for example, 160°.

While the Lighthouse Technologies displays utilize the InGaN on sapphireand AlInGaP on GaP LED's described above, other materials may be usedfor the LED's as follows:

-   -   1. (Blue/green) InGaN on SiC, preferably with a suitable buffer        layer such as AlN    -   2. (Blue/green) InGaN on GaN    -   3. (Blue/green) InGaN on AlN, preferably with a suitable buffer        layer such as AlN.        It will be appreciated that the InGaN on sapphire and the other        solid state LED's described above have substrates with high        optical transmissivity and produce very high optical power. This        is important for a number of reasons, including giving the        electronic display designers the ability to create very wide        viewing angles up to approximately 1600, and the resultant        increase in visibility of the displays to viewers in oncoming        traffic.

In addition to the particular solid state LED's mentioned above, thediscrete sources of blue, green and red light at each pixel may takeother forms such as composite devices including an ultraviolet LED thatis utilized to excite a phosphor that, in turn, produces light of aselected spectrum. The ultraviolet LED may be a GaN on sapphire or GaNon SiC device, preferably with a suitable buffer layer. In oneembodiment, ultraviolet LED's are incorporated into three differentcomposite devices, each with a different phosphor for producing blue,green and red, respectively. In another embodiment, a phosphor isselected to produce white light and a desired color is produced bypassing the white light through a narrow band pass filter. According tothis white-light embodiment, filters of blue, green and red may be usedto create discrete composite devices that produce blue, green and redlight at each pixel. The use of white light with appropriate narrow bandpass filters has the advantage of producing a colored light with anexcellent wave length distribution that will not change appreciably overtime, a desirable property for color balancing. On the other hand, theuse of three different phosphors to directly produce blue, green and redwithout a filter has the advantage of higher efficiency because light isnot filtered out. Both approaches have the advantage of excellentpersistence which, as known in the art, is a desirable feature that isespecially important in video applications.

It will be appreciated that energy sources other than ultraviolet LED'smay be used to excite the phosphors of the composite devices discussedimmediately above.

The provision of one or more high resolution, highly aligned digitalcameras at each display site, for example the camera or cameras utilizedin digital camera and traffic counter 120, or other specificallydedicated cameras, provides a means permitting diagnostics andcalibration of the displays. As known in the art, certain digitalcameras have a resolution of over 7,000,000 pixels—as compared toapproximately 172,000 pixels on the above-described 23×33½ ft. display.Thus, by directing a digital camera at a display, or directing multipledigital cameras at different discrete portions of a display, acorrespondence may be attained where a portion of each digital camera'simage corresponds to a single pixel in the display. At selected timesset aside for diagnostics and calibration, such as a five minute periodeach night, the entire display may be run red, then green, then blue,followed by white, all at multiple power levels. In the most basicdiagnostic operation carried out when the display is run red/green/blue,the camera(s), mounted at a selected distance from the display such assixty feet away, are capable of detecting nonfunctioning or excessivelydegraded LED's for replacement.

Beyond replacing defective LED's, each night the system mayautomatically re-calibrate all LED's in the display. To this end, thedisplay is run red/green/blue at several iterative power levels (e.g.,20%/40%/60%/80%/100%) and the optical power output of each LED is sensedfor each power level, with the goal being to calibrate the system sothat each red, green or blue LED has the same optical power output ateach power level as do the other LED's of the same color. Calibration isachieved by diode recalibration scaler software that may be associatedwith the video converter/scaler at 110 (FIG. 1). The diode recalibrationscaler receives information from the diagnostic equipment indicating theoptical power output of each LED at the various power levels and,through an associated automatic calibration LED look-up table, accountsfor daily variance in LED output (degradation or increase) by adjustingthe power curve by which the LED will be driven the next day.

As an alternative to using digital cameras for the diagnostic function,in other embodiments miniature photodector chips, with or withoutfilters, may be located in close proximity to each LED in the displayfor measuring LED light output during diagnostic/calibration operations.

When the diagnostic operation operates with an all white display, thethree LED's at each pixel may be evaluated individually and collectivelyto assure that the pixel is contributing the proper spectrum and amountof white light. Through a diagnostic/calibration software package thatinterrelates output and peak wave length response for eachred/green/blue LED at a pixel to the desired white light response, aniterative calibration may be undertaken at each pixel to correctly biasthe drivers and thereby assure correct output.

It will be appreciated that split screen images may be displayed at thedisplays 30. In the simplest application, a still image advertisementmay be one half corporate logo and one half scenery. Beyond this simpleapplication, split screen capability may be used to present a portion ofthe image as a corporate logo, or the like, and the remainder eitherreal time (or near real time) video or still frame. For example, apreviously qualified customer with acceptable internal content reviewprocedures may have direct access to a display or displays for thepurpose of displaying a real time (or near real time) sports event, newsevent, or the like, in conjunction with the customer's corporate logo.This display may be achieved by utilizing high speed servers 100 or bybypassing the servers altogether. High speed still image or videotransfer may be facilitated by compression techniques such as JPEG andMPEG II, known in the art.

While advertising scheduling and purchasing may take place as describedabove where customers directly purchase time from available slotsaccording to a fixed fee schedule, it will be appreciated thatalternative modes may be used. For example, an auction system such asintroduced by eBay Corporation may be used where all available slots areauctioned (a “total” auction). Additionally, a limited auction may beutilized where time may be purchased and booked for a set price, but alltime not purchased at the set price becomes available through auction 20at a fixed time before the run time, for example, one month before runtime. As another alternative for a portion of the available time slots,a high usage customer may establish a monthly advertising budget withthe system operator that authorizes the operator to select the timeslots for display of the customer's advertisements at “best availablerate” pricing, taking advantage of last minute availability of timeslots and other time slot placement techniques that enable the operatorto more completely utilize the network. This or similar time slotplacement practices when used for a portion of the available time slotsmay be implemented by a software package that takes into account theneeds of both the customer and the system operator.

It will be appreciated that advertising content information may betransmitted to the electronic display locations by physically deliveringan information storage device such as CD ROM, zip drive or DVD RAM tothe location in those cases where the location may be remote, or forother reasons.

While the present invention has been described with reference tospecific embodiments, it will be appreciated that modifications may bemade without departing from the true spirit and scope, of the invention.

1-12. (canceled)
 13. A system providing commercial advertisers theopportunity to place video or still image advertisements at selectedlocations on a network of multiple electronic displays, the systemcomprising: a network comprising a plurality of electronic displayslocated in traffic areas; at least one central information processingstation comprising: a scheduling module configured for advertisingcustomers of the system to review a schedule of one or both of times andelectronic display locations that are available for placement ofadvertisements, wherein the scheduling module is further configured toreceive an order to purchase placement of advertising content onselected electronic displays of the plurality of electronic displays, areceiving module configured to receive customer advertising content, anda distribution module configured to distribute the advertising contentreceived from the customer to the selected electronic displays; whereinthe scheduling module is further configured to direct each selectedelectronic display to display the customer's advertising content inaccordance with the order.
 14. The system of claim 13, wherein at leasta portion of the plurality of electronic displays are LED displays. 15.The system of claim 14, wherein each electronic LED display comprises adedicated server that receives advertising content information from thecentral information processing station and drives its respectiveelectronic display to display the customer's advertising content inaccordance with the order.
 16. The system of claim 13, wherein thecentral information processing system includes a customer interface webserver providing Internet access to the system.
 17. The system of claim13, further comprising a billing module configured to generate a billfor the order.
 18. The system of claim 13, wherein the receiving moduleis configured to receive customer advertising content directly from thecustomer using a customer interface web server providing Internet accessto the system.
 19. The system of claim 13, wherein the scheduling moduleis further configured for advertising customers of the system to reviewa schedule of specific time slots display locations are available forplacement of advertisements.
 20. The system of claim 13, wherein theadvertising customers include an owner of one of the electronicdisplays.
 21. A method of providing video or still image advertisementsat selected locations on a network of multiple electronic displays thatare located in traffic areas, the method comprising: providingadvertising customers of the system the opportunity to order display ofadvertising content at selected electronic display locations;transmitting customer advertising content to the selected electronicdisplay locations; and driving the electronic display at each selectedlocation to display the customer's advertising content in accordancewith the order.
 22. The method of claim 21, comprising generating a billin accordance with the order.
 23. The method of claim 21, whereinproviding advertising customers of the system the opportunity to orderdisplay of advertising content at selected electronic display locationscomprises providing a Web-based customer interface.
 24. The method ofclaim 21, wherein transmitting customer advertising content to theselected electronic display locations comprises sending the advertisingcontent to the selected electronic displays using an Internet protocol.25. The method of claim 21, wherein transmitting customer advertisingcontent to the selected electronic display locations comprises sendingthe advertising content to the selected electronic displays usingwireless communications.
 26. The method of claim 21, wherein driving theelectronic display comprises driving a plurality of LEDs.
 27. The methodof claim 21, wherein the advertising customers include an owner of oneof the electronic displays.
 28. A system providing commercialadvertisers the opportunity to place video or still image advertisementsat selected locations on a network of multiple electronic displays, thesystem comprising: means for providing advertising customers of thesystem the opportunity to order display of advertising content atselected electronic display locations; means for transmitting customeradvertising content to the selected electronic display locations; andmeans for driving the electronic display at each selected location todisplay the customer's advertising content in accordance with the order.29. The system of claim 28, comprising means for generating a bill inaccordance with the order.
 30. The method of claim 28, comprising meansfor sending the advertising content to the selected electronic displaysusing an Internet protocol.
 31. The method of claim 28, comprising meansfor sending the advertising content to the selected electronic displaysusing wireless communications.
 32. The method of claim 28, wherein themeans for driving the electronic display at each selected locationcomprises means for driving LEDs.